[kyllo]

After reading Waltzing with Bears I really think that any discussion of Project Management that doesn't focus on risk management at all is incomplete. It's important to make an honest list of all the risks to your projects and the estimated probability of each of those occurring, identify what will be the indicator that a risk is materializing, and have a plan of action for preventing or mitigating each risk. The project schedule must build risk factors into the calculation.

[netghost]

And recognize or communicate uncertainty. Too often I think that people like to brush uncertainty under the carpet, and then forget that their nice clean plan is just one of many possible outcomes.

[kyllo]

That and understanding the relationship between risk, uncertainty and reward. If a project is not risky at all, there is probably no reward to doing it either. Risks contribute uncertainty to the schedule, so both the probability of those risks materializing and the time and monetary costs of mitigating those risks must be factored into the schedule and budget.